The following discussion of the prior art is provided as technical background, to enable the features and benefits of the invention to be fully appreciated in an appropriate technical context. However, any reference to the prior art should not be taken as an express or implied admission that such art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Block caving is an underground mining method that may be applied to naturally fractured ore bodies. By undercutting the base of an ore body, the overlying ore is caused to cave into the opening created. The broken ore may be removed from a series of draw points, and unbroken ore continues to cave into the cavity created.
Monitoring and predicting material flow in such situations would be beneficial in terms of advanced efficiencies and subsequent cost savings however, to date, technologies for monitoring ore flow have not been particularly successful.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate one or more of the limitations of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.